City's Water Concerns Heighten

Reservoirs At 58 Percent Capacity

August 19, 1999|By JOHN SPRINGER; Courant Staff Writer

BRISTOL — By pursuing efforts to connect with other water distributors and improving its own well system, the Bristol Water Department could add more than 2 million gallons a day to its production capacity, consultants said Wednesday.

With city reservoirs down to just 58 percent of capacity and rainfall still scarce, the board of water commissioners is facing many tough decisions and questions from residents about whether more severe water use restrictions are coming.

Addressing the board at a special meeting Wednesday, city resident Phil Jesup said it appears the board ``dropped the ball'' on expanding its storage capacity since Bristol's six reservoirs dipped to below 50 percent during a drought in the 1960s.

``I can't point to a whole string of accomplishments, that's for sure,'' water board Chairman Joel Wulff conceded. ``How we could have sped this up, I don't know.''

Water Superintendent Leonard Valentino defended the agency, saying that only obstacles thrown up by the state Department of Environmental Protection have kept the city from completing the Cook's Dam project in Harwinton. The proposed system would have doubled the city's storage capacity.

``I don't believe we dropped the ball, per se,'' Valentino said. ``Maybe we missed the basket, but I don't think we dropped the ball.''

The state's main objection to the Cook's Dam project was that the city had not fully explored alternatives, including purchasing water from neighbors. On Wednesday, engineers Sebastian Amenta and Mark Kopchak of the MacGuire Group told the water board that if the crisis worsens, interconnections with the Connecticut Water Co. and the New Britain Water Department could add up to 2 million gallons of water a day to Bristol's capacity. Bristol customers now consume from 5 to 6 million gallons a day.

Valentino said he is talking to both water departments about how the interconnections would work and how much they would cost. The department also is looking into connecting wells in the Hoppers-Birge Pond preserve and near Mechanic and Mix streets to existing water mains.

Although the board did not broach the subject specifically Wednesday, Valentino said that if the drought continues and the reservoirs dip below 50 percent, more severe water restrictions might have to be imposed. He said water commissioners will make those decisions.